To think people who overtake are idiots?

[sallyhansen32]

So this morning I was out early.
I was on a road with a 30 mph limit..there's a speed camera next to a school.
I'm new to driving so didn't want to go crazy so I dropped down to 25mph till I passed through it.
A van overtook me and stuck his fingers up.
Was I going to slow?
If I was then fair enough ..but it's not like I was going through under 20.

There is nothing wrong with overtaking if it’s safe to do so. Being rude though is just childish and reflects badly on them. Unfortunately when driving you will come across an awful lot of bad behaviour. I’ve seen people deliberately cause other road users problems like sitting in lane 3 of the motorway and driving deliberately slowly and then laughing as people get more and more irate, what they get out of it I will never know but sometimes getting behind the wheel of a car turns people into total dicks

Of course if you crash at speed it's dangerous - nobody is saying it isn't.

But people who drive under the speed limit for no reason can be really infuriating to get stuck behind. I know everyone on MN is the perfect driver who doesn't experience any form of frustration at anything on the roads, but in reality when you're rushing to work and you're stuck behind someone who drives too slowly for the conditions, you're going to annoyed about it, especially if they don't pull over to allow you to pass.

And infuriatingly slow drivers do cause accidents because people get so frustrated that they overtake on corners or in places where they shouldn't do. Of course that's not strictly the slow drivers fault but there's a reason that driving slowly for no reason causes you to fail your test - you're causing a hazard.

Dropping to 22mph in a 30 for no reason is silly driving. It might not be particularly dangerous but it is frustrating and there's no need for it. This wasn't a 60mph country road where you often can't go above 50, for example. It was a quiet urban street in front of a school on a Sunday in clear conditions - absolutely no reason to slow down!

And infuriatingly slow drivers do cause accidents because people get so frustrated that they overtake on corners or in places where they shouldn't do. Of course that's not strictly the slow drivers fault but there's a reason that driving slowly for no reason causes you to fail your test - you're causing a hazard.

No. Just no. Frustration isn't an excuse for dangerous driving. If you can't control your temper, get off the road.

Justarandom - because it is believed that if the speed limit was raised to 78 (mind games!) that we would all just drive at 90.

We had someone undertake us on the hard shoulder of the motorway doing around 90mph then proceeded to weave in and out of other lanes doing the same. Sometimes It must be a mixture of impatience and just the thrill of doing it for some idiots.

tara
I've heard/seen people give advice of slowing down more if you get a queue of people behind you. Apparently, it's their problem for being impatient.

Same for people already going slowly and inconsistently tapping their brakes (and then slowing down in other places without braking!)

There are dickhead drivers out there, but some slower and inconsistent drivers seem to think it's their job to regulate everyone else. If you want to be slow, fine but let people past and don't be a dickhead.

People shouldn't get frustrated whilst driving and it's never an excuse for doing a dangerous move, but the reality is that most people are patient to a point but find very slow and inconsistent drivers a bloody nuisance and it's poor driving (just like middle lane hoggers who think they are driving in the middle lane at 60mph because they don't need to be in the 'slow lane', 'it's safer than the idiots doing 90' and then complain people get irritated).

I never said it was an excuse, just that slow driving is dangerous there's a reason it causes you to fail your test. I only passed last year and my instructor drilled it in to me that if I drove along at 20mph in a 30 for no reason I would fail for not driving to the conditions of the road. The police do pull people over for driving too slowly and for causing tailbacks behind them.

Anyway the chap in the OP overtook when it was safe to do so. Yes, he shouldn't have sworn but equally the OP shouldn't have dropped her speed for no reason.

I regularly drive an NSL road to work - it's about a 25 minute journey on that particular road. For the majority of it you can drive at 40-45mph quite safely, there are only one or two narrow stretches where you need to drop to 30 as it's not wide enough for two cars at once. The amount of people who think that driving along the entire road at 25mph is acceptable is borderline ridiculous. There are numerous passing places where they refuse to pull in, despite the building queue of traffic behind them.

Why? What possesses people to do that? Do they just ignore their rear-view mirror or do they think it's some kind of failing to need to pull in and allow traffic to pass? I often have people speeding behind me on those roads and I'm quite happy to pull over and let them pass.

I realise this isn't really to do with OP's situation but it's just another example of how driving slowly can frustrate people.

The road I drive has loads of blind corners so overtaking someone slow is impossible unless you want to collide with a wall. So you're stuck and the queue builds and you get annoyed.

But of course on MN you're the devil incarnate for getting even remotely irritated by bad slow driving.

adaline

Get as irritated as you like. I will drive at the speed I think is safe for a bend or a bridge or whatever, and if you, as a result of your inability to manage your emotions, go into the back of me, I will claim on your insurance.

Yeah, because getting frustrated with someone is the same as crashing into them

adaline

That's what I am saying: getting irritated because someone drives slower than you would like is understandable. Reacting by driving dangerously isn't, and that would be the fault of the irritated person, not the slow driver.

Yes, i'm i'm certain that those people who cause huge tailbacks because they're going well below the speed limit think they somehow believe they're the better driver with the attitude of "to hell with those behind, they won't rush me", or the other kind who don't look switched on, like there's a total unawareness of what's going on around them. Selfish driving i call it. By that i'm not referring to the Op.

coolncalm

I don't think 'they won't rush me'; I think, they won't make me drive faster than I believe is safe.

I agree cool.
If you get massive tailbacks then the driver at the front is probably going slower than reasonable. Either they are showing zero awareness of the impact of their driving on the road around them or they know and don't care out of some self-righteous 'but i am safe and they are impatient' feeling.

It's not hard to let others pass. When I used to live rurally that was the etiquette.

Justarandombloke speed on motorways is looking to be reduced to 60mph in an attempt to reduce pollution

The young girl who died recently from the effects of pollution has probably scared this government/ ??

but i am safe and they are impatient' feeling.

But Maisie, you must agree that driving at what you feel is a safe speed trumps someone else's impatience? Surely?

Obviously when this happens I will pull over to let people pass, but not if I am approaching the speed limit and they clearly wish to exceed it.

but not if I am approaching the speed limit and they clearly wish to exceed it.

But it's not upto you to police their driving! If they want to break the speed limit and risk a fine or points then who are you stop them?

adaline

Jesus, the entitlement! I am not going to pull over so someone behind me can speed. I don't care whether they speed or not, particularly, but by remaining on my own course at a sensible speed I am doing them no disservice.

Not read the full thread but cannot believe posters urging op not to slow down in a 30 by a school (speed camera is irrelevant. You shouldn't be speeding so speed cameras should not change your driving).

30 is a LIMIIT not something to aim for!

Driving on a residential road in a 30 zone is completely different to driving, say, 35 on a fast moving motorway which would be dangerous and if you can't see the difference then perhaps you need to give your licence back.

In wales, lots of residential roads near schools have reduced their limit to 20 and for good reason. If a car is driving at 25 in a 30 and you think someone should go faster as you're impatient then you need to have a word with yourself.

It's a good idea to have "P" plates on the car for a little while when you first start driving alone. This just lets other drivers know that you are inexperienced and although there will still be drivers who become easily agitated and take risks on the roads and with other road users the majority of drivers will have more patience if you display the fact that you are new to the roads.

Jesus, the entitlement! I am not going to pull over so someone behind me can speed.

To speed or to to drive a resonable speed?
I have been stuck in a queue for about 80 miles all the way from the West coast Scotland to the motorway in Stirling behind someone who didn't reach 40 mph even once during this drive, almost missed our plane in Edi (and we always leave with plenty of time to spare). If there is a queue behind you as far as the eye can see, with several cars pulling over into the other lane to see what is going on in front then you are driving too slowly and should pull out and let others go past. There are signs up saying "allow for overtaking" for a reason.

This MMT car sounds like a nightmare - never heard of one before. I've just googled it and can't make head nor tail of how you are supposed to drive it.
It's no wonder you are finding it difficult - I would book a couple of lessons with your driving instructor until you get to grips with it.
You need to be able to drive it safely.

It is not safe if you are randomly slowing and speeding up because you're not sure how much pressure to put on the accelerator. There's nothing worse than being stuck behind someone driving along who keeps changing speed.
That said, the van driver was an idiot for sticking his finger up but if people want to overtake and it is safe to do so, they are perfectly entitled to do so without being called an idiot.

Sally
You are doing fine. New cars do take some getting used to, especially for new inexperienced drivers, it is fine.

Is is possible he was driving too close and when you slowed down he thought you were being arsy? Hence the aggressive overtaking. That is fairly common.

My understanding is that people don't like P plates as they get targeted for insurance claims. That is so unfortunate because they exist for a good reason. It gives new drivers breathing space.

People do need to overtake. They just don't need to be arseholes!

Personally if someone wants to drive dangerously/speed I would rather pull over and let them get the fuck out of my way. The last thing I would want to do is make them stay behind me and get increasingly pissed off and likely to do something stupid. It might be their fault if they cause an accident but that doesn't make any potential injuries any better!

Not read the full thread but cannot believe posters urging op not to slow down in a 30 by a school

A) it was Sunday so no school kids to worry about and B) she was already driving below 30 so there was absolutely no need to slow down even further.

My instructor won't touch my car with a barge pole.
She has said they are a nightmare and prone to unpredictability.
I don't know whether to just sell it and buy a normal car.